Mobile e-commerce used to be considered a “cherry on top” for desktop online retail. As smart mobile devices became more widespread and accessible, people began incorporating them into the e-commerce journey—but primarily to search and browse products rather than conduct transactions. This was due in part to the challenges associated with using mobile browsers of the past when it came to complex, multi-step interactions like checking out.

Improving the customer experience (CX) is on the priority list of just about every organisation globally these days.

Yet it feels like little genuine progress has been made. It is still too difficult to discover new products on the web, find merchandise information and even purchase goods online, especially if companies were truly as customer-centric as many claim to be.

Why is this? Why are brands struggling to improve the customer-facing parts of their businesses – and what can marketers do to help?

With new technologies, you can minimize consumer confusion by designing systems around those who are the least tech-savvy. Then, instead of technology being intimidating or irritating, you'll have world-class solutions that please everyone — from Millennials to Boomers.

User experience, edge computing and AI will continue to dominate as key trends in 2019 as organisations put particular focus on simplifying their enterprise architectures. We will see organisations transform for the everything-as-a-service economy and changing the way they operate. Advances in technology and business demands mean that enterprise technology is unrecognisable from what it just five years ago, with a focus on technologies that can boost people productivity and the ability to serve customers.

In Australia, a 2017 report by economics and strategy consulting firm AlphaBeta revealed that if the rate of automation is doubled, it will take away on average four hours of work each week from Australian workers over the next 15 years. Additionally, Australia should double its pace of artificial intelligence and robotics automation to reap an AUD$ 2.2 trillion opportunity by 2030, while also urgently preparing to support more than 3 million workers whose jobs may be at risk.

The global market has become very competitive and extensively influenced by numerous technical, commercial, and aesthetic factors. Every business activity, digital processes, and marketing strategies from the creation of a website to the online purchase of a product has become granularly sophisticated as well as powered by the use of modern technologies.

While you may be able to recognize and appreciate the work of graphic designers, fashion designers, and architects in your everyday life, you may not think too often about experience designers. But user experience (UX) designers have a huge impact on the products most of us use every day, especially digital products like smartphone apps and websites. A UX designer is in charge of how you interact with a product and the overall experience: What features does it offer? When you click a button on an app or website, where does it take you? Can you find that button? How many clicks should it take to put in your credit card information or sign up for a new account? How easy is it to figure out how to share a link or invite a friend? It’s a UX designer's job to figure that stuff out.

When it comes to online shopping, the smartphone has now surpassed desktops. In October 2016, nearly 51.3% of the global population browses online using a tablet or a smartphone, compared to the 48.7% that use a desktop. Starting in 2015, Google began rewarding mobile-friendly websites with higher rankings in the search results; a good reason for businesses to have a strategy in place for mobile. Today most businesses use responsive and adaptive websites. However, these same businesses are also considering using mobile apps – but are these mobile apps user-friendly?

UX design has become ubiquitous today – product interfaces, onboarding processes and content presentation on varied digital platforms depend upon it. With technology advancing rapidly and evolving, it has become mandatory for industry players to constantly adapt to new design strategies. One would do well to analyse these emerging trends with less than a month remaining to plan strategies for the next year. Here are some UX design trends I would watch out for in 2019:

Most designers do not have the time - nor skills - to create user-centred copy as their focus is on design. The role of the UX writer, however, is integral to experience design, its personification and subsequent success.

In this sense, copy is design as it serves the end user in the most optimum way and becomes the ultimate arbitrator of a design’s tone and delivery. Equally, it adds cohesion to design and, as a point of differentiation, sets digital experiences apart. It can truly be the difference between someone purchasing your product or walking away.

Being able to drive organic traffic to your site is important if your business is going to succeed. It’s just as -- if not more -- important to focus on acquiring new customers as it is to keep them. In 2019, it’s time to up your growth hacking strategy so you get more valuable leads this year.

With growth hacking, there are endless benefits: lead acquisition and retention, content sharing, organic traffic, expanded reach, increased conversions and more. It focuses on building your audience and your brand at a steady rate with quality customers.

If you’re trying to find growth hacks that will bring you results and boosted traffic, here are three you can’t miss.

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Mopinion: The Leading User Experience Tool

Mopinion is a proud sponsor of User Experience News. The voice of the online user is taking on an increasingly important role when it comes to improving websites and apps. So web analysts and digital marketeers are making more and more use of User Experience Tools in order to collect experience from the user. Mopinion takes it one step further and offers a solution to analyse and visualise User Experience results from your websites and apps wherever you need them. The real challenge for companies is not about capturing experience, it is about how to make sense of the data.